COLLEGIATETIMES
thursday february 21, 2008 blacksburg, va.
www.collegiatetimes.com
news HISTORY PROFESSOR CHARGED IN HIT AND RUN INCIDENT A Virginia Tech professor has been charged in connection with a hit and run that occurred Tuesday night. Peter Wallenstein, a professor of history, was charged with two misdemeanors for allegedly hitting a Wallenstein bicyclist at the intersection of West Campus Drive and Perry Street. The bicyclist, who was not seriously injured, was able to identify the car, and police tracked it down Tuesday, according to WDBJ7. The university has not decided what, if any, action to take.
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SHELL-SHOCKER AFTER TRAILING BY DOUBLE DIGITS IN BOTH HALVES, THE HOKIES STUN THE MARYLAND TERRAPINS CHARLES R. BARRINEAU
ct associate sports editor
SCHIEFFER TO HOLD LECTURE AT TECH Bob Schieffer, a former CBS news correspondent and anchor, will deliver the Cutchins Distinguished Lecture at Virginia Tech on Thursday, March 13 at 7:30 p.m. During his career, Schieffer was the news outlet’s chief Washington correspondent and anchor of the Saturday edition of “CBS Evening News” for 20 years. He covered Washington politics for the station for more than 30 years. He has also won numerous accolades for his work and publications. His presentation, titled “Washington and the World,” will give his perspective on the 2008 presidential election and candidates, among other current events. Schieffer will speak in Burruss Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public, and tickets are not required.
weather PARTLY CLOUDY high 37, low 30
corrections “Pamplin professors develop software for fraud detection,” (CT, Feb. 19) contained an error. Greg Jenkins and Patrick Fan are associate professors of accounting and information systems. “Tech’s top-ranked food hits the road,” (CT, Feb. 20) should be clarified. The Hokie Bird did not travel with Chef Bratton, but a large selection of Hokie memorabilia was distributed to the UMass Amherst students. The Collegiate Times regrets these errors.
MIKE SHROYER/SPPS
Seth Greenberg celebrates after Tech’s four-point victory over the Maryland Terrapins. The Hokies trailed much of the way, but stormed back in the final minutes to take the game.
CANDACE SIPOS
ct news reporter After his father died in a falling accident, Thurman Lockhart, associate professor of industrial and systems engineering, has attempted to save others from a similar fate. Alongside a team of professors from the University of Virginia, company leaders and graduate students, Lockhart is trying to create a device — a small, lightweight box for older people to wear on their belts — that would predict potential falls. “The bottom line is that fall accidents are increasing,” Lockhart said. “We’re trying to do everything to reduce accidents and reduce injuries. I predicted this a long time ago — that’s why I got into this field — and it’s pretty devastating.” Lockhart said that the number of deaths due to fall accidents was about 14,000 when he first came to Virginia in 2000. That number has risen to 19,000 today. Among older people, injuries are the fifth leading cause of death, 80 percent of which result from falling. Twenty percent of people over 65 who fall need medical help. Lockhart, who has been working at Tech for eight years, has been researching this issue for about 12 years. He started his research during his time as a graduate student at Texas Tech University, where he received his Ph.D. in
JEFF SLOYER/SPPS
Thurmon Lockhart, an associate professor of industrial systems engineering, prepares sensors to detect motion and the force of falls with Xiaoyue Zhang, a doctoral student. industrial and systems engineering with a biomechanics concentration. He hopes to have the device marketed and also come up with an “invention solution.” “Fall monitoring is not going to do it, but we
Signs of Compassion
TOMORROW’S CT Pick up Friday’s paper for a preview of the Oscar favorites for the 80th annual Academy Awards.
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An independent, student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903 105th year • issue 23
need to do something way early to start to get engaged in this healthy lifestyle, and I’d like to be a proponent of that,” Lockhart said.
see FALLS, page three
ct news reporter
GENEVRA RHEIN/SPPS
Nicole Bonfliglio, a sophmore music education and vocal performance major and member of the Concert Choir, signs a banner in Squires Recital Hall from the Virginia Tech choirs to the Northern Illinois University choirs.
KERRY O’CONNOR
ct news reporter Last week, Gov. Tim Kaine announced a shortfall of $1.4 billion forecasted over the next 29 months. To offset the increased deficit, Kaine proposed a revised budget that includes further spending cuts and emphasizes the need to tap into the revenue stabilization fund. In October when the initial budget was proposed, Kaine’s administration forecasted a $641 million shortfall. He then proposed $400 million in spending cuts to help offset the shortfall. Due to a rapid slump in the economy in December and January, the projected shortfall has increased and a revised budget became necessary. “The revenue came in considerably short (of) what was projected,” said Gordon Hickey, deputy press secretary for Kaine. The shortfall in the state revenue collections is a result of a slump in the national Kaine economy, which has affected Virginia citizen’s ability to pay their taxes. The state revenue collections depend on both withholding taxes, such as money withheld from a paycheck, and non-withholding taxes, such as sales taxes. For that reason, Kaine did not want to raise taxes in order to fix the shortfall. “He’s never taken a pledge saying, ‘read my lips I will not raise taxes,’” Hickey said. “Regular citizens are facing some difficulties so that’s not a good time to raise taxes.” Instead, Kaine tried to “spread the pain,” Hickey said, and make spending cuts where he felt would be necessary.
The spending cuts will not affect the proposed spending increases for mental health services stemming from the events of April 16. These cuts include a 2 percent cut to funding for higher education from 2009 to 2010. Reductions to Virginia Tech would total a little over $8 million between now to 2010. Kaine’s revised budget, however, is still just a proposal. On Sunday, the House released its own proposal of a revised budget. Jeff Ryer, spokesman for H. Morgan Griffith, House majority leader, said the House’s revised budget restored the $70 million cut to higher education. “Our greatest dissatisfaction is that he took money from existing programs and responsibilities, like higher education, in order to expand on his newer initiatives, like his pre-kindergarten program,” Ryer said. The spending cuts will not affect the proposed spending increases for mental health services stemming from the April 16 shootings. “The governor has left that alone as well as the House and Senate proposals,” Hickey said. “So that spending looks pretty solid right now.” The spending cut will also not affect the medical school and research institute building being built in a joint effort between Carilion Medical Center and Tech. “It’s my understanding that all of the different proposals from the Senate and House all include the funding to build the medical school research institute building,” said Eric Eanheart, spokesman for Carilion. “We don’t anticipate anything that would delay the building.” In addition to these spending cuts, Kaine proposed to take $432.5 million from the revenue stabilization fund instead of the $261.1 million proposed in October. The revenue stabilization fund, also known as the “rainy day fund,” was established during Doug Wilder’s term as governor of Virginia, and was used by former governor Mark Warner in 2004 for the same reasons Kaine is proposing. After withdrawing $432.5 million, the rainy day fund would be left with $800 million. Hickey explained Kaine had high hopes that both of the houses would agree on a new revised budget that better accommodates the shortfall.
Copycat crimes prevalent in media-heavy culture CALEB FLEMING
Check out a photo gallery from last night’s men’s basketball game in College Park, Md.
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see SHOCKER, page eight
Research aims to prevent falls for elderly
coming up
index
COLLEGE PARK, Md.—The Virginia Tech men’s basketball team staged a late second-half run Wednesday evening that led to a 69-65 win over the Maryland Terrapins, breaking a three-game losing streak and giving the Hokies their first win in College Park since 1951. “It meant a lot to us,” said Virginia Tech head coach Seth Greenberg. “We lost three games in a row. We got embarrassed at North Carolina. We didn’t play well against (N.C.) State—as well as I would’ve liked. Obviously, Miami’s better than (people) think they are. Yeah, it meant a lot to sweep Maryland. Look at those banners. That’s a Hall of Fame coach over there. Yeah, it means a lot to us.” The win brings the Hokies to 15-11 overall on the season and 6-6 in Atlantic Coast Conference play, and marks the first ever win by a visiting team in the Virginia Tech-Maryland series since both became members of the ACC. “It means a lot to me, especially since I haven’t gotten a win here,” said senior Deron Washington who finished with 12 points and 5 assists. “Also, after losing three games and coming up here to get a win—it feels much better, especially for the guys from close … like Malcolm (Delaney) and Jeff (Allen).” The Hokies got off to a slow start, just as they had in their previous two road games at North Carolina State and North Carolina. The Terrapins converted on open shots from behind the three-point line and on post feeds to Bambale Osby to take a 12-4 lead. Four turnovers and two missed free throws didn’t help the Tech’s cause on the offensive end. The Hokies, for the third consecutive road game, found themselves down by at least 10 points, this time 16-4, less than nine minutes into the game. In fact, it took the Terrapins just over five minutes to open up a double-digit cushion. “We didn’t worry about the turnovers,” said Tech guard Hank Thorns. “Mistakes are going to happen, so we just stayed positive with it and we played with it — it’s going to happen.”
Kaine revises budget after projected $1.4 billion deficit
Commonly referred to as the copycat effect, throughout history acts of violence that have received significant national or even international attention are often followed by threats of a reenactment of the event, or even an actual duplicate of the crime. Since the shooting at Columbine High School in 1999, this phenomenon has been observed at especially high rates with school threats and shootings. Since April 16 of last year marked the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history, school and law enforcement officials nationwide have reported numerous “Virginia Tech style threats” in schools and on the Internet.
At Northern Illinois University, classes were canceled last December after university police took notice of a threat scribled on a bathroom wall, referencing the Tech shootings. Additionally, students at Boston University and the University of Cincinnati, among others, were arrested for threatening violence that would make the events at Tech “pale in comparison.” Though history shows that killings of this nature often occur in clusters, few people can accurately attest to the thought process of a gunman or anyone making these threats. Danny Axsom, an associate professor of psychology, acknowledged the similarities between the copycat effects of homicides and suicides. “If the literature on suicide is any indication, it’s not as though simply learning about what hap-
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